Beijing (EFE).- The Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, denied today that his country has sold arms to Russia and defended that China has made “an independent judgment” and “bet on peace” in Ukraine.
“What has China done to be threatened or pressured regarding this crisis? We are not directly involved nor have we provided weapons. We have published a document with proposals for peace,” Qin said at his first public press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese Legislature (National People’s Assembly).
Last February, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said he had evidence that China plans to send weapons to Russia for its war against Ukraine, a point that Beijing has repeatedly denied since then.
Qin added that “there is an invisible hand that is causing the crisis in Ukraine,” in a veiled reference to the United States, and that “it is a critical moment.”
“There are those who are committed to peace, and there are those who add fuel to the fire. We are on the side of negotiation, of de-escalation, of peace, he said.
an ambiguous position
China, which has tried to maintain equidistance with respect to the war in Ukraine, was one of the countries that abstained from voting on a resolution condemning the Russian invasion in the UN Assembly.
Beijing sticks to an ambiguous stance on the Russian invasion, calling for respect for “the territorial integrity of all countries,” including Ukraine, and, at the same time, attention to the “legitimate concerns of all countries,” in reference to Russia. .
The Chinese government recently issued a statement on what it calls the “conflict” in which it defends respect for the sovereignty of all countries, the abandonment of the “cold war mentality” and a ceasefire, as well as a call for “moderation” to “prevent the situation from getting out of control” and leading to a nuclear conflict, a proposal criticized by the West for putting “the aggressor and the victimized” on the same level.
Beijing accuses the US of creating a crisis to “contain” China
According to Qin Gang, the United States only seeks to “contain” China, to the point of “creating crises” and warned that its attitude could derail bilateral relations.
“We saw it in the recent episode of the balloons. They resorted to the presumption of guilt, dramatized what was an accident, used force and caused a crisis. The US is wrong about China.”
During his appearance at the main political event of the year in the Asian country, the foreign minister considered that Washington “has taken China as its main geopolitical rival and it is not about competition. They try to contain China. This is confrontation.”
Qin added that the United States “does not stop repeating that you have to respect the rules, but if they try to bring down the other, it is a confrontation in bad faith.”
“They won’t get away with it”
The diplomat urged Washington to have “an inclusive vision if they want to be great again” and stressed that they will not be able to “stop China’s steps on its path to modernization.”
“We hope that the US administration will listen to its people, abandon this cold war mentality and work with China in a way that both countries cooperate and benefit,” he said.
Relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated by leaps and bounds in the last year on account of conflicts such as the visit to Taiwan last August by the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, trade sanctions and technologies or the most recent crisis of the “spy” balloons.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry recently released a report accusing the US of “using multiple methods to maintain its world supremacy,” which it considers “a global risk.”
